“You said, “Listen now, and I will speak. When I question you, you will inform me.”” (Job 42:4)
 
Information is readily available today. When we need a quick answer to a question we can use AI, Google, or other internet resources. Though these resources do provide answers to some of the toughest questions on our minds cannot be answered by these resources but only through spending deep contemplative prayer. Listening to God to gain wisdom and a better understanding.

There are questions that the heart aches to ask. Questions relating to why a particular circumstance is happening in our lives, Is God evil, or even pertaining to what happens when we die. These questions have puzzled many within the church and many have tried to answer them over the ages. Questions relating to our faith help us workout our faith enabling us to understand God better, a stronger faith, and encourage us in times of crises.

It is not wrong to ask questions regarding faith. The questions we ask also stretch us they allow us to listen intently to the voice of God to hear his answer. Questions bring us into a deeper relationship with God.
The answers from God often cannot be rushed unlike a couple strokes on a keyboard to ChatGPT. The answers from God often take time, an open heart, and an openness to trust him with unfavorable answers.
 
Heavenly Father, there are questions that we have not sure how to ask may you answer the questions deep within our hearts. May we trust you even when answers are unfavorable.
 
Walking with you,
Stacy Watkins

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” (Psalm 23:1)
 
Often, people will exclaim the Lord being their shepherd. The Lord being in relationship to the people under his care. Knowing exactly what they need, when, and the direction that they need to go. On our own it can be difficult to know which direction to take, which opportunity is wise, what is the right step to take.

Shepherds were often close to the sheep that they looked after. They knew their sheep’s fears, which ones were prone to wander, and the dangers that were constantly nearby. Exclaiming the lord as my shepherd is one of close relationship. God knowing our fears, what will entice us to walk away, and the dangers to keep us from developing a close intimate relationship. When we claim that God is our shepherd, we believe that we can trust him with our circumstances no matter the situation. God cares for each one of us. 

When we allow God to shepherd us our deepest needs are met. The psalmist cries out “I shall not want” it is not bad to want possessions such as clothes, cars, or devices. Here the psalmist is stating, the essentials he is not lacking because they can all be found in God. His safety, direction, rest, and provision are found in God. We can turn to God for what we truly need.

Today there are many sources that tell us what we need, the direction we should go, and even how to get there. When we allow God to shepherd us, we no longer strive after certain effects but, learn to be content with what we have. God knows exactly what each one of us needs.
 
Heavenly Father, help us to trust you as our shepherd. When we are worried or stressed help us to place our concerns at your feet for you know exactly what each of us need.
 
Walking with you,
Stacy Watkins

“If then I did anything wrong and deserving death, I am not trying to escape death; but if there is nothing to what these men accuse me of, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar!” (Acts 25:11)

James Bond always seems to exude confidence he usually just says his name all suave “Bond, James Bond.” His name being an entire statement and not just a name. There is always something we can learn from people who are confident they are able to boldly proclaim things and have a self- awareness about their selves. When we are confident, we are standing firm in the truth about ourselves. We know we can have confidence because we are rooted in Jesus.

Confidence involves having courage and humility when we face situations that involve being misunderstood, false accusations, or even mistreatment we can stay honest, humble, and anchored in God’s purpose. Though it can be difficult to be honest and humble when facing tough situations especially when we know we have done nothing wrong and might have to face consequences that are unjust. We too can refuse to be condemned by false accusations and stand firm in truth. We can have faith that true justice will prevail.

True justice only comes from Jesus he sits on the rightful judgment seat. We are held accountable for our actions whether we believe that we are innocent or not, but we can trust God that God’s justice will prevail even when human systems fail us.
 
Heavenly Father, help us to stand firm in your truth even when the outcome does not look good. Help us to believe in the purpose that you have set before each one of us.
​
Walking with you,
Stacy Watkins
​

"'I said, What should I do, Lord?' The Lord said to me, 'Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything that you have been assigned to do.'" (Acts 22:10)

School assigned projects sometimes are not fun since often teachers assign partners who might not be our friends. Some assigned tasks we might get at work might include administrative taking messages, answering phones, or even operational involving ensuring the work environment is clean and orderly or even supervisory assignments including hiring, training, and supervising tasks. There are tasks that we all must complete. Some are more strenuous than others and some take more energy but no matter how difficult, we must complete the work that is before us.

Often, we do not know what the next step is that we must take. We can ask the question “What shall I do, Lord?”, it marks the beginning of transformation. We stop telling God what we want and ask Him what He wants us to do moving ourselves from control to surrender. We learn to seek out the assigned tasks that he has for us and not just the desires of our hearts. Not all the tasks will be laid out exactly before us and may come one step at a time. It is okay to not know exactly what to do, and you may feel stuck however, continue to ask and seek God for guidance.

You are never alone when you feel stuck and are unsure what to do next. God promises He will never leave us nor forsake us. He also goes before us in all situations. He is always there right beside us. When you are stuck and unsure what to do, pray to God and He will give you direction in what to do next.

Heavenly Father, thank you that we are never alone that you walk beside us. When we are uncertain or plans fall apart, help us to ask what we should do, Lord?

Walking with you,
Stacy Watkins

“After we had been there for several days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. He came to us, took Paul’s belt, tied his own feet and hands, and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him over to the Gentiles.’” (Acts 21:10-12)
 
“When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” The saying means when things get difficult, strong people continue and do not give up. Often, we might want to give up when facing difficult challenges since, we love things to be easy in life. We love not having to try extremely hard to earn money, at work, or make dinner. A quick-frozen pizza that can be thrown in the oven is always the perfect solution. Some can even mistake “Well, if it’s hard, it is not God’s will for our life.” Believing that everything within God’s will for their life is going to be easy. Learning to obey even when it is hard can be challenging. Not everything in life is easy; believing you can do something after you failed, starting over in life, admitting to others you’ve lost your job. When we face challenges head on, we learn obedience and build strength.

Many of us know what it is like to face tough situations and sometimes the pain is unbearable, and we wish we could just skip it. However, we need to continue to move forward walking in faith knowing that God is with us no matter the circumstance. During strenuous times we can be led by fear causing us to make wrong decisions but choose to be led by faith. Faith in God. Even in the middle of the struggle, God is working continue to obey his voice.
                 
Heavenly Father, help us to continue to obey even in the face of hard decisions.
 
Walking with you,
Stacy Watkins

“But I consider my life of no value to myself; my purpose is to finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of God’s grace.” (Acts 20:24)
 

Have you ever attempted to run a marathon? Running 26.2 miles does not sound fun although successful marathon runners say it is rewarding. It takes preparation and training for people to be able to finish the race. The training is what makes runners successful in being able to finish the race.

Training for a marathon compared to the Christian life involves the same strategies people to walk alongside the journey with you, the right fuel, and rest. People need to walk alongside the journey with you to encourage, accountability, and prayer. Not only do we need people to walk alongside us but, the right fuel. The right fuel comes from reading scripture and learning from God’s word. God’s word nourishes us and gives us what we need to minister to other individuals. Many beginning runners believe that they should not rest. However, on the rest days is where strength is truly built. We learn not to overload our lives at the expense of staying connected to God. We learn to rely on God’s strength and not our own power.

​A marathon is finished one mile at a time. At first it feels hard with no end in sight but, the training prepared us for every step of the way. How do we finish the task God has given us? One day at a time.
 
Heavenly Father, help us to continue to finish the task that you have given us. May you strengthen us when we feel weak.

Walking with you,
Stacy Watkins

“The evil spirit answered them, “I know Jesus, and I recognize Paul- but who are you?”  (Acts 19:15)
 
Teachers lecture students on formulas that they use in class. Formulas such as the mass energy equivalence formula or the mass energy equivalence equation commonly referred by E=mc2, there are several equations that we learn while attending primary school. Some equations are useful to learn while others are in the back of minds forgotten.

The formula used shows that mass can be converted into energy and vice-versa. Mass moves mass and it can be calculated to find how much energy it takes. In Acts 19 certain men were trying to use the name of Jesus as a formula to expel evil spirits. They did not realize that a major piece of the equation is having a true relationship with Jesus. They try and use the name of Jesus but, had no relationship with Jesus, so they had no power or authority. Faith cannot be faked.

​Faith cannot be imitated either we cannot copy another person’s faith. Faith must be genuine and our own this comes from spending time with Jesus. Building a relationship with Jesus as our Lord and Savior this happens through reading the Bible, spending time with Jesus in prayer, and worship.
 
Heavenly Father, help us to develop a true authentic relationship with your son Jesus.
 
Walking with you,
Stacy Watkins

“The Lord said to Paul in a night vision, “Don’t be afraid, but keep on speaking and don’t be silent. For I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to hurt you, because I have many people in this city.”
(Acts 18:9-10)
 
A slogan sometimes seen on t-shirts is DON’T QUIT with parts of the words crossed out DON’T QUIT  emphasizing instead of reading don’t quit the shirt now reads as do it. There are moments in our lives when we feel like quitting and shifting our focus. We might have applied to several different jobs and have not heard back from any companies or been hired after months. We might have started a community group, and no one shows up. We can even wonder “why are we even trying?” It can feel defeating and discouraging but keep going. It can become easy to stop applying after several no’s. No matter the circumstance do not give up.
​
It is easy to throw in the towel in these moments and shift our focus to do something else. When we are ready to give up remember that God is with you even, when it is not working out. Continue to be faithful even when results are not visible. God has gone before you and at the right time the opportunity will come. God is with you even when it feels like he is not. God continues to prepare our hearts for exactly what we need at the right time. Just keep going.
 
Heavenly Father, may you give us courage to continue and be faithful even when we feel discouraged.
 
Walking with you,
Stacy Watkins

“He listened as Paul spoke. After looking directly at him and seeing that he had faith to be healed.” (Acts 14:9)
 

There are so many distractions these days. Everyone is usually carrying around a phone checking emails, watching videos, or even messaging someone that they often do not see the person right in front of them. Often, we must ask someone to put away all the distractions to look at us to see if they are even listening to what we are telling them.

Even when people are looking at us, they might not see us completely. They may be looking in our direction but, a thousand and one things are on their mind keeping them from focusing on the person in front of them. When we know someone is directly looking at us and is truly seeing us our entire demeanor changes because they are fixated on us and really knowing us, we realize everything that they could be doing or thinking about has been put aside. There are several ways to feel seen through validation, recognition of thoughts and feelings, a sense of connection and acceptance.

​We feel loved when we are completely seen. We feel that we are known because someone is taking their time and investing into us. Not only did Paul see him but, God sees us directly and there are no distractions around when God sees us. He knows us completely because he sees us and loves us.
 
Heavenly Father, in a world filled with distractions we thank you that you see us completely and know us.
 
Walking with you,
Stacy Watkins

“So the church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.” (Acts 9:31)
 
This is a great picture of the church it is spreading and growing throughout the region. Just within the city of Portland there are dozens of different churches although today many would consider Portland the least religious city in Oregon. When people think of Portland they might think of the slogan “Keep Portland Weird” not the growth of the church. The church is growing in Portland and will continue to grow.

As the church grows, we are to walk in the fear of the Lord. What does it mean to walk in the fear of the Lord? It does not mean we have to be afraid of God. It means we have a reverence and awe of God. His holiness, greatness, and majesty evoke a healthy fear in us. In our daily lives this could be choosing to be honest even if means not getting a job because we value God’s holiness. This can even be practicing self- control abstaining from alcohol or harmful substances because we believe that God wants us to take care of our bodies.

​We are intended to walk in the fear of the Lord while being encouraged by the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised us one who will comfort us, who also convicts us of sin, but also encourages us while we go through challenges to get better, continue through hard things, and even seek help when we cannot do it on our own. The Holy Spirit is there to encourage us and guide us on our journey of God’s grace.
 
Heavenly Father, help us to live a life worthy of your holiness, grace, and greatness. Holy Spirit, may you encourage us each day even when we face our toughest challenges.
 
Walking with you,
Stacy